Movies Like Brilliant! The First Detective: Zenigata Heiji in His Youth

If you liked Brilliant! The First Detective: Zenigata Heiji in His Youth (1953), a drama and history movie directed by Kon Ichikawa, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Mary (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.
2
Wittgenstein (1993)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and history
A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of…
3
Field of Lost Shoes (2015)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and history
A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.
4
Treasure (2024)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and comedy
A music journalist accompanies her father, a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While she's eager to make sense of her family's past, her dad has an agenda of his own.
5
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and drama
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
6
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s.
7
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher (2022)
★ 6.2/10Also history and drama
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
8
Mr. Turner (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also history and drama
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
9
Adventures of a Mathematician (2021)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and history
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and…
10
The Luckiest Man in America (2025)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
1984; Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio, steps onto the game show "Press Your Luck" harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak is threatened when the…
11
The Rosa Parks Story (2002)
★ 7/10Also drama and history
A seamstress recalls events leading to her act of peaceful defiance that prompted the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
12
Firebrand (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, is named regent while the tyrant battles abroad. When the king returns, increasingly ill and paranoid, Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival.
13
Family Weekend (2013)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and drama
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
14
Julia (1977)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and history
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
15
Confirmation (2016)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and history
Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had sexually harassed her.
16
The House of Tomorrow (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and comedy
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
17
Munich - The Edge of War (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and history
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
18
My Own Love Song (2010)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and drama
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
19
Me and Orson Welles (2008)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and history
New York, 1937. A teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
20
The Secrets We Keep (2020)
★ 6/10Also history and drama
In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.